SunEdison, a leading worldwide solar energy services provider, applauds the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for its ”Going Green” initiative, which is expected to save the state’s taxpayers more than $45 million. Throughout a six-year partnership, SunEdison implemented and continues to manage 18.4 MW (DC) of distributed generation solar energy on prison grounds turning unusable land into clean energy. The power generated by the SunEdison systems will provide enough clean energy to power 65,091 homes and offset over 730 million pounds of CO2 emissions, the equivalent of taking 72,129 cars off the road over twenty years.

New ARPA – E Awards Announced, $2.6M to go to Yale’s Geo Project

Yale University was announced to receive $2,648,074 from the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) “OPEN 2012″ program, for its “Power Generation from Waste Heat with Closed-Loop Project”. The plan is to develop a system for electricity generation from low-temperature waste heat at power plants, industrial, facilities, and geothermal wells. The system will use waste heat and the difference in salt content between two liquid streams to create electricity through membrane processes known as pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO) or reverse electro-dialysis (RED). The announcement brings ARPA-E’s total portfolio of projects to about 285 projects for a total of approximately $770 million in awards.

Norway’s First Wind Farm on Hold due to Lack of Political Support

Norway experienced a setback in its efforts to boost renewable energy production with the postponement of its first offshore wind farm. Wenche Teigland, chairman of the board of wind power developer of Vestavind Offshore AS, talks about the absence of support for offshore wind from political leaders causing the company to halt the construction of its 350-megawatt wind farm until further notice. The showcase farm was intended to produce 1 terawatt- hours annually, enough to supply 50,000 households, and pave the way for further projects.

India Proposes Rules for 9 Gigawatts of Power from Solar by 2017

India released a draft policy with the goal of building 9,000 megawatts of grid-connected solar plants by 2017. According to the draft published on the website of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Plans, the strategy includes auctioning 1,650 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity as well as grants to cut project costs and loosening curbs on the purchase of equipment from overseas. The policy would, for the first time, fund the solar industry with direct grants covering as much as 40 percent of the upfront cost of building projects.

Wisconsin Industrial Sand Company reduces Water Consumption by 50%

Wisconsin Industrial Sand Company, a Fairmount Minerals company, has reduced its freshwater consumption by more than 50% during the last three years at all of its three mines, which are located in Maiden Rock, Bay City, and Menomonie. The mines are recapturing, recycling, and reusing nearly all of the process water following significant capital investment in new technology. Sand mining process water washes clay, shale, and other debris from the sand so it can be processed and sized for sale. New thickener tanks at the mines draw the silt and clay from the wash water so the water can be recycled and reused. The company is also decreasing its environmental footprint with a solar energy panel that powers the Menomonie mine’s offices, laboratory, and maintenance shop. A new sand dryer at the Maiden Rock mine runs on cleaner-burning natural gas instead of propane.